It will come as no surprise that Pac-Man originated in Japan, where a Japanese computer firm called Namco Limited, modelled the game after a classic…
Browsing: Toys & Games
Paint by Numbers in its popular form was created in 1949 when Dan Robbins was hired by Max Klein, President of the Palmer Show Card Paint…
During the 1980s, at break times all over Britain, every schoolboy would huddle together, heads bowed, studying intently. Not books – natch – but something…
Most video games offer an escape from reality. So, what was the deal with Atari’s Paperboy? What kid wanted to spend their hard-earned cash to…
The Pet Rock was probably the biggest toy fluke of the 20th century. Can you imagine people today buying a rock decorated with animal features?…
These iconic, dual-line steerable kites were originally developed in 1972 by charismatic British kite-maker Peter Powell. Often credited as the “father of the stunt kite,”…
In 1927 Austria, Eduard Haas III invented the brick candy, taking the Pez name from three letters in the German word “pfefferminz” (which means peppermint).…
Launched in 1980 and one of the first arcade games to feature distinct levels of play, Phoenix took a few basics from Space Invaders and…
The date when Pick-Up Sticks was invented is unclear, but it has been traced back to the Native Americans, who played it with straws of…
Pinball machines: a byword for the life of leisure, an aimless distraction for teenagers and slackers everywhere – and, along with darts and pool, the…
Produced by British toymaker Palitoy between 1972 and 1980, Pippa was much shorter than normal fashion dolls at only 6.5 inches (16.5cm) tall, which meant…
Few science-fiction concepts were as durable as the one that fueled Planet of the Apes. The success of the first Planet of the Apes film in…
William Harbutt resigned his position as headmaster of the Bath School of Art because his forward-thinking ideas were always deemed too radical by his seniors.…
The universally-loved Play-Doh has been making little hands happy since 1956 when Joe McVicker created a soft modelling clay from wallpaper paste for his sister’s…
Unlike today’s generation of kids who seem to need a Playstation, an XBox and half a dozen iPads to stave off boredom, not all of…
As legend has it, an American traveller named George Hansburg was making his way through Burma when he made the acquaintance of a poor farmer.…
Throwing a small metal disc at a pile of lighter discs was an essential playground skill in the 1990s, as mastering that skill was the…
Atari had experimented with head-on racing games back in 1976 with Night Driver, but it took a licensed game from Namco (designers of Pac-Man and…
Polly Pocket was released in 1989 and the miniature dolls and their many accessories became an immediate hit. The carriers they came in mimicked adult…
The first successful computer game was a video version of ping-pong, whose “ball” was a blip that bounced back and forth on-screen between two paddles.…